*BPOV*
"To your left," the bubbly student tour guide gestured with an open palm, "is the Baker Library. I hope you'll pardon our dust because the brand new state-of-the-art Cullen wing is currently under construction," the blonde said.
I choked on the complimentary bottle of water that I'd thirstily grabbed out of my Dartmouth College new student swag bag.
Edward had the nerve to widen his eyes innocently as I glared at him. "We're going to talk about this later," I hissed through gritted teeth.
"Calm down, Bella. It's a very common name," he said, fighting a smile.
I poked him in the chest so hard that my joints protested. "No. Gaslighting."
"Moving right along," the guide chirped, walking backward, "I hope all you English majors are paying attention because right over there is Sanborn House, that will be your home base."
Edward's eyes lit up, "Look, Bella," he pointed to the brick building covered with creeping vines of ivy. "Your classes will be there!" he exclaimed, clearly trying to distract me.
"The grassy quad area coming up is what is commonly called The Green. It's where most campus-sanctioned activities are held.
"...If you have any interest in Greek life, the fraternities and sororities will all have booths set up here this week and you can chat with the members. I'll be there with a few of my sisters at Sigma Delta," she pointed to a pin on her green Dartmouth College sweater.
"The easiest way to remember the campus layout is if you imagine The Green at the center of a compass." She turned in each direction, pointing out the various landmarks.
"To the north are the language arts buildings, dorms, and Greek residences. To the east are the math and science buildings. Just south of The Green are the fine arts buildings and auditoriums. History and philosophy is west, and athletics is way down in the southeastern corner…"
Luckily for Edward, we were busy the rest of the morning being herded through orientation minutia such as taking photos for our student ID cards and buying the books for required reading so I didn't have the chance to yell at him properly.
"Jesus, that costs how much? For books? What are they made out of? Phoenix feathers and unicorn hair?" I verbally assailed the pockmarked student who rang us up.
"Bella," Edward said in a low voice, pulling a card out of his wallet, "Let him do his job. He's not the one that you're mad at," he murmured, sliding the card across the counter.
The employee pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose uncomfortably, "Well, if you'd like to buy used copies-"
"That won't be necessary. Thank you, Eugene," Edward said in a too-friendly voice, taking his receipt and the two heavy bags of textbooks and leaving before I could make a bigger scene.
I was embarrassed about my outburst before I even left the bookstore, of course, but stubborn to the very end, I stomped all the way back to the car in stony silence.
"You're blowing this wildly out of proportion, you know," Edward said in a maddeningly patient voice as he stowed the book bags in the trunk of the rental car and shut the lid.
"Edward, in your many years on this planet, how many women have you known to respond well to being told they're overreacting?" I fumed as I sank down into the passenger seat.
Edward, who had been holding the door open for me, closed it softly behind me and slid behind the wheel a moment later.
Closing his door, he huffed out a breath in exasperation and turned to look at me. "Bella, it's just money! A resource that we have a near limitless supply of. There's no sense in-"
"It's not just the money, Edward. You let me think I got in here on my own merit," I said as hot, angry tears blurred my vision.
His face softened and his voice was pained. "Bella, you would have gotten in here on your own merit if it hadn't been for me. I wasn't about to let you settle for the University of Alaska when-"
I interrupted him again. "How the hell do you figure?" I demanded.
Edward's eyes turned sad. "I know I don't have to tell you how much your GPA suffered when I left. My fault. How can you blame me for wanting to fix what I broke in this one small way?"
I sighed, all traces of anger had vanished. "Edward...a university library is not what I would call small."
"It's only a wing," he smiled crookedly and started the car. "And you never would have known about it if the office of admissions had any idea what anonymous meant," he muttered, accelerating down the street.
"What?"
"What?"
*EPOV*
Well, that went swimmingly I thought with an inward groan.
"So other than the library, what did you think of the campus?" I asked, trying to keep my tone upbeat.
The corners of Bella's mouth twitched into a reluctant smile. "It's amazing, obviously. It felt like my first day at Hogwarts. I kept waiting to be sorted into our houses," she admitted with a bashful sort of laugh.
"No sorting hat, but they do have a quidditch team," I grinned, enjoying the way her eyes lit up.
After a beat of silence, I asked "So what would you like to do with the rest of our afternoon? The sky's the limit,"
"Can we go find another bookstore so we can start to fill up our wing of the Cullen library?" Bella suggested.
"As long as you promise to be nice to the salesperson," I teased.
Bella cringed. "Poor Eugene. I should try to find him again and apologize."
"He'll be ok. He wanted you to come back and yell at him some more. Can't say I blame him with how you look today," my eyes raked over her desirously.
Bella looked particularly ravishing in a vintage peasant top and a short denim skirt that showed off her shapely legs. Coming to a stop at a red light, I leaned over and kissed her throat.
"On second thought, we could just go home and I can buy the books online. Probably safer for the booksellers of Hanover that way...Who knows what I might say to the next one?"
I nodded. "It's the responsible thing to do," I agreed, smiling widely, easily catching up to her mood.
*BPOV*
"Looks like Jasper and Alice and Emmett and Rose have arrived," Edward announced about a mile from the house.
"Can your online book shopping spree wait just a few minutes? I told Esme I'd help unload the trucks...And Alice is waiting for you back at our place. She wants to show you how to use your closet," Edward asked with a somewhat guilty expression on his face.
"So much for that whole 'vampires need to be invited in before they can step inside your house' trope…I've never met a vampire to be that polite," I muttered.
The sound of Edward's boyish laughter filled the car.
"Just another myth to help the fleshies feel like they have a sporting chance," Edward chuckled as he pulled the rental car to a stop in front of our house.
"I wonder if humans will evolve to have eyeballs on the sides of their heads like other prey animals?" I asked, waving at Alice who was waiting for me in one of the rockers on the porch.
"Well, I'm sure glad I met you before that happened...though come to think of it," Edward took my chin in his hand and stared intently into my eyes. "Your eyes do look a little farther apart than they did a year ago," he teased, kissing me on the nose.
"Back in a bit," Edward promised and flashed to the other side of the car to hold the door open for me. "Have fun with Alice!" He kissed me lightly on the lips and then he was gone.
"May I come in?" Alice asked tartly as I skipped up the steps to the porch. "I wouldn't want to be rude."
"Aww, don't be silly, Alice, you're always welcome," I hugged her in greeting. "Now...eavesdropping though? Now that would be rude," I laughed as she stuck her tongue out at me.
Once inside, I only had time to quickly kick my shoes off by the door before Alice was tugging me impatiently toward the bedroom.
"Tell me everything! It was torture trying not to look the whole time you two were gone," Alice said sitting down at the foot of our bed and pulling me down next to her.
"Ohh, you came for girl talk. Well, why didn't you say so?" I teased. "I would've been much happier to see you than for the whole walk-in closet pretense."
Alice narrowed her eyes at me and gritted her teeth. "It's not a pretense," she growled indignantly, waving a hand toward the closet. "But I mostly do want to hear about your trip."
"Well, it was spectacular, of course. We went cave diving, I swam with dolphins, we jumped off a waterfall—"
"I wasn't asking about the sight-seeing, Bella," Alice interrupted impatiently, quirking an eyebrow at me as if I was missing something obvious.
"Alice, that's private!" I felt the blood rushing to my face.
"Nothing in this family is private, Bella. Get used to that."
I closed my eyes remembering the whirlwind of our limbs intertwined, his lips on my skin, the feeling of being enveloped by him, of never getting enough. And of course the feathers.
In a small voice, I breathed, "It was perfect. So perfect. He was so sweet, and tender, and gentle…but…"
"But?" Alice prodded.
I sighed. "But apparently not quite gentle enough that first time," I admitted. "Though I don't remember him ever holding me too tight, there were a few bruises, and he was upset," I frowned.
"This is why you make him so crazy with worry, you know! You're always so quick to downplay your injuries. I did see that, unfortunately, and be real, it was more than a few bruises, Bella," Alice said reproachfully.
I rolled my eyes. "So that first week was a bit of a bust. He was so upset with himself he hardly touched me. All that lingerie you packed did nothing to tempt him. We played a lot of chess," I said acidly, rolling my eyes again at his stubbornness.
"Oh, I think it did more than you realize," Alice giggled, "But go on."
"And then one night I woke up from a dream, a sexy dream, and sort of...wouldn't take no for an answer," I laughed awkwardly, remembering the bizarre crying episode.
"What I wouldn't give to see Edward try to handle that!" she trilled delightedly, her head thrown back with laughter.
"Well that time went smoother, and he seemed to realize after that that we just needed a bit of practice. Which was what I had been trying to tell him all along!" I threw my hands up in exasperation.
"Bella, surely you must see things from his side, at least a little bit. He hurt you, pretty badly from what it looked like. Could have killed you. Think of what that must have felt like to him. Seeing his own handprints on your body."
I scowled. "Edward refusing me hurt me more."
"I get that, too. But I hope you understand what a huge undertaking that was. The men have been buzzing about it since you left.
"None of them, not even Carlisle, think they could manage to have sex with a human without breaking bones, so cut Edward some slack.
"...That said, I really am very happy that it all worked out for you. Jazzy couldn't believe how different Edward's energy was when you both came back. So whatever you're doing, keep on doing it!" Alice's laughter tinkled musically in my ear.
"That's sort of the plan," I laughed, blushing again.
"Oh, you don't have to tell me what your plans are," Alice winked. "So why don't you let me show you your closet so that I can leave as soon as Edward gets back in about 2 minutes." Alice was already off the bed and tugging me toward the closet.
*EPOV*
It didn't take more than a few minutes to unload the cars and uHaul. Delivering a wardrobe to Emmett and Rosalie's room, I greeted Emmett who was sitting on the floor assembling their bed.
Emmett pinched a screw between his thick fingers, threaded it through a washer, and with the slightest twist of his fingers drilled the screw firmly into place, no power tools required.
"I see my little sister is still in one piece, so I guess congratulations are in order," Emmett laughed, all dimples and bright white teeth.
"Har har, Em. Go ahead and get it out of your system. She's alive. The 100-year old virgin has left the building.
"...Yes, I'm in a much better mood, and if you want your limbs left intact, you'll keep the apple pie thought to yourself," I threatened with a pleasant smile. Though always happy to see him, I extended a fist out for him to bump just the same.
"Glad you're back, man. It gets boring around here without Bella punching wolves and tripping over air," Emmett guffawed.
"Speaking of Bella, I have a small favor to ask."
Emmett looked up at me now, his golden eyes sparkling with intrigue.
"It would really help me out, a lot, if you could let Bella believe, at least for the remainder of her human life, that none of you can hear us at our house.
"...She's already so self-conscious about just being human around us that if you start teasing her about the things you hear...it would just be better for everyone if she thought she had some privacy. Unless you prefer the old, grumpy, celibate Edward, that is."
"I'm hurt, Edward. Do you really think I'd cockblock a brother like that?" Emmett pressed his bear-paw-sized hands to his chest, pretending to be insulted. The booming laughter in his head was almost painfully loud.
I arched an eyebrow, unfooled. "Wouldn't you though?"
"You're right. I totally would," he laughed out loud now. "What's in it for me?"
"What do you want?" I sighed, bracing for the worst.
"You can pay Jasper the money I owe him. He made it here first. Fucking Jersey Turnpike…" Emmett glowered and shook his head as he turned another screw, this time making sparks.
"DONE! Thanks, Em!" I clapped my hands together in gratitude and bolted for the door.
"You probably won't want to thank me after you find out how much money I lost," he called after me in laughter.
On my way back to Bella, I picked up my baby grand piano that was the last thing left in the truck.
I balanced it on one hand like a pizza box, with a palm held up above my shoulder. I tucked the disassembled legs under my other arm and hopped lightly off the back of the truck.
Alice was just leaving as I was about the head up the front steps. She helpfully took the piano legs from me and set them down inside so that I could use both hands to turn the piano sideways to fit it through the door.
Can't say I'm surprised, but I am impressed, thought Alice, thinking of the blushing, lovestruck expression on Bella's face from just moments ago.
I guess I'll catch up with you in about a decade when you two can finally keep your clothes on long enough to have company. Welcome back! She grinned and danced back up the pathway to the house in search of Jasper.
"Thanks, Alice! She probably has enough clothes in there now to last her at least that long," I laughed, not completely joking.
She looked back at me over her shoulder. "Not at the rate you're burning through them" she playfully snarled in accusation, and then she was gone.
Bella was sitting on the couch with the laptop open when I came through the door carrying the piano.
Her eyes bugged out of her head in astonishment. Another thing I'd miss when she was changed was the ability to impress her with such small feats.
I set my beloved instrument down on its side, quickly screwed on its legs, and moved it where I wanted it, then returned to the living room to see what Bella had gotten up to.
Peeking at her Amazon cart over her shoulder, I razzed, "It's not going to be a very much of a library if you've already read all the titles in your collection."
"I was just...starting with the classics and expanding from there," she defended, her cheeks turning a lovely shade of peach.
Placing a hand on the back of the couch, I leaped over it in one smooth motion, landing next to her with a small bounce.
"May I add a few titles that I bet you'll love?" I asked, holding out my hands for the laptop.
She handed it over without complaint, "It's your library, too. You do that while I make a snack. I'm famished."
Bella ducked into the kitchen and I heard the fridge open and cabinet doors open and close as I scrolled through her cart to see what she didn't already have.
Getting to the end of the list, I froze to see the last item.
Leaving the laptop forgotten on the couch, I went to join Bella in the kitchen. She was making a sandwich while humming softly to herself.
I stood behind her and wound my arms around her waist, tucking my face between her neck and shoulder, kissing the soft skin there.
"I didn't see Kama Sutra on the required reading list for your history of sexuality class," I murmured into her ear in a distinctly husky voice.
"It wasn't," Bella answered, just as husky.
I growled at the desire I heard in her voice and tightened my arms around her, letting her feel my own arousal.
My hands roamed over her soft, feminine curves-her hips, her waist, the gentle swells of her breasts, all the while kissing up and down her throat.
Bella's breathing was ragged now, and her sweet, burning scent was intensified by the scent of her arousal.
I moved away from the right side of her throat, and switched to the other side, smiling into her skin when I saw the way she gripped the countertop to keep herself steady.
One of my hands drifted upward until I found her chin, and I tilted her face gently to the side so that I could claim her mouth with my own.
My other hand wandered south to the hem of her conveniently short denim skirt.
I heard her heart skip a beat as the cool skin of my fingers brushed her bare thigh. I lingered there for a moment, teasing her.
"I've been thinking about doing this all day, Mrs. Cullen," I whispered between kisses into the soft warmth of her mouth.
"Well, what took you so long?" Bella's lips smiled against mine. I growled pleasurably when I felt her hand grip my erection through the fabric of my jeans.
Dipping my hand under her skirt, I sucked in a breath when I only felt more of her skin.
"No panties?" I moaned, "Have you been like this all day?" Bella gasped as my fingers found her warm, wet center.
"Well I certainly didn't take them off while Alice was here," she said with a breathy laugh.
With the tips of my fingers, I circled her swollen nerve center until I felt Bella's knees go weak beneath her.
I tightened my grip around her waist and rubbed ever so slightly harder until every muscle in her body was coiled like a spring.
"Do you want it here, Bella, or should we go back to the bedroom?" My voice was gravelly with need.
"It's as good of a horizontal surface as any," she panted, pressing herself harder against my fingers.
Bella hurriedly pulled her blouse and bralette over her head while I bunched her skirt up around her waist, I then turned her around and laid her flat on her back on the island with her legs in the air.
"Give me half a second," I asked, regretfully only took me half that long to lose my pants and grab a condom from the bedroom and be back between her legs.
Placing one hand just above her mound, my thumb resumed pleasuring her while my other hand lined up my cold, hard arousal with her soft, wet heat.
I penetrated her ever so slowly, feeling the molten heat of her core consume me inch by scintillating inch.
I hooked Bella's knees over my shoulders and started to rock into her as hard as I dared without hurting her, while still rubbing small circles over her sex.
"Oooh, Edward, please don't stop," Bella begged.
Bella's eyes were screwed shut, and her chest was flushed and glowing with perspiration. Her fingers curled tightly around the edge of the wooden countertop and her pert breasts bounced with the force of my thrusts. She was the most beautiful, most sensual creature I'd ever seen.
"Look at me, Bella. Look at me when you come," I rasped, feeling the imminence of my own release.
With a low groan, Bella arched her back off the table, and her muscles tightened around me as she teetered over the edge of her climax, panting and sobbing in the throes of her pleasure.
My own release came soon after. With a high, soft whine, I emptied myself into the condom and gently withdrew from her.
Worried about her back on the hard counter, I wrapped her legs around my waist, and picked her up, supporting her with an arm wrapped around her back.
Not sure what she would want most, I asked "Bath, shower, or bed?"
"A bath sounds like heaven," she sighed happily.
So I drew her a hot, lavender-scented bubble bath. Kneeling beside the tub, I rubbed the tension from her feet and shoulders.
It took almost nothing to dazzle her into telling me what she was thinking about in Alice's earlier memory—It was a face I was determined to see often, and with my own eyes.